Big Trouble, Little Planet
by Ian Potto
Summary: Based in the SegaSonic world, it has been roughly six months after the events of "Sonic Adventure". Something very strange is happening over Never Lake, and it begins a wild ride for Sonic and the gang. The question is, will they all survive?


"Big Trouble, Little Planet"  
Story is (c) by Ian Flynn  
All characters and places are (c) Sega  
Written roughly in 1999  
  
Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of Angel Island, stretched and yawned, awaking from his nap.   
With a slight grunt, he lifted himself from the Master Emerald and cracked his back. As he started  
down the stairs of the altar, his sleep-induced stupor allowed him to unwittingly step on a Chao that  
happened to be napping in his path. The tiny blue creature shrieked and began bawling and thrashing.   
Knuckles immediately awoke fully and took the Chao in his arms. At the bottom of the altar, a small  
moat had appeared within the past few months. The contents were not water as it would seem, but  
rather Chaos, the God of Destruction and Guardian of the Chao. The 'water' rippled and churned as  
the Chao's cries alerted the ancient beast. Chaos Zero rose from the moat; its long tail swishing behind  
it. It dragged its feet through the moat and began to ascend the stairs, ready to eliminate the cause of  
the Chao's suffering. But when it reached the top, it saw a very content Chao being rocked gently in  
the arms of the Guardian. Knuckles crooned an improvised lullaby, and the startled Chao drifted back  
to sleep. Knuckles sat the infant on a small outcropping next to the stairway and decided to glide the  
rest of the way. Chaos, meanwhile, returned to it's completely liquid state.  
Knuckles did not linger in the air long. What he saw on the horizon made him drop to his feet  
quickly, and his blood run cold. Angel Island was floating to one of the most fantastic meteorological  
phenomenon Earth had ever seen. The sky over the landmass Angel Island was approaching was thick  
with ominous black and purple clouds. In the center, what appeared to be a titanic reverse tornado  
sucked itself high into space. The inside of this cloud-made tunnel pulsed with varying colors, and arcs  
of multicolored lightening bounced randomly within. The stratosphere-based portal had appeared  
directly over a large lake, whose contents were thrashing wildly, as if an invisible giant was fighting to  
stay afloat in the waters. Then, from the vortex, came the impossible.  
A natural satellite, not unlike the Moon, came slowly through the cloudy gate. While not nearly as  
large as the Moon, it was huge none-the-less, and it apparently had seen better days. From his vantage  
point, Knuckles could see the remains of vast cities, stripped and barren, torn asunder by terrible winds  
and their debris. On one side, a great and jagged crater had been torn out, rather than being formed by  
something's impact. On the other side was an impossibly huge chain. Only a few links held fast to the  
planetoid, but as Knuckles quickly realized, the odd rotation of this tiny planet would turn the chain  
segment into a deadly feature. And while this entire sight was unnerving, Knuckles was much more  
alarmed by something else: Angel Island was on a collision course with it.  
A small pink spark whizzed to Knuckles' side. In a brilliant flash of light, Tikal stood at the  
Guardian's side, equally alarmed but under control. Knuckles set his jaw and leapt into the air, his  
dreads fanning out as he headed for the phenomenon.  
"Where do you think you're going?" Tikal called to him.  
Knuckles spun around. The gravitational distortions caused by both Angel Island and the invading  
planetoid allowed the Guardian to hang in midair. "I have to go there and see if there is anything I can  
do to send it back!"  
"Are you crazy?" Tikal cried back. "That would be suicide! We need to evacuate the Chao as  
quickly as possible!"  
"What about my Chaotix, or the other animals on the island?"  
"Their deaths won't cause Chaos to seek vengeance on the world!"  
"You said it yourself, they're on their holy ground. They didn't leave when your father's army  
attacked, and they won't leave now!"  
"I'll deal with that, but..."  
"Good! I'm going to see what I can do with that...thing!"   
With that, Knuckles pivoted in the air and flew the rest of the way to the coming danger. As he  
neared the atmosphere, he got a better look at the terrain. The clouds were hardly anything more than  
a dust-based fog, and the ground was rushing in one direction. Knuckles realized that he'd be at the  
mercy of the planetoid's unnatural gravity, but he had to try. The landing was rough as the ground sped  
beneath him, like a humongous treadmill. What was worse, the air was practically unbreathable.   
Knuckles collapsed to his knees, wheezing and coughing, his eyes watering over. He was struck in the  
side by a large rock, and as he forced his eyes open, he saw the entire contents of an abandoned city  
collapse and begin flying at him.  
A familiar spark hissed through the brown air, and in another brilliant flash, Tikal was once more at  
the Guardian's side. She was quickly overtaken by the noxious air. She staggered to Knuckles,  
ducking as a mortar block barely missed her head.  
"We have to go, NOW!" she said, coughing.  
"I can't just leave the island," Knuckles gagged indignantly, but in no condition to argue.  
"It's a lost cause, I'm sorry," Tikal said, blinded by the haze. She grabbed the Guardian's hand in  
her own and, with another flash of light, the two flew away as a pink spark, just as the remains of the  
city tore apart their former position.  
The spark dropped down to the banks of the turbulent lake where, with yet another brilliant flash of  
light, the two echidnas were laid in the dark sands. Knuckles coughed and looked skyward, his eyes  
growing progressively wider with fear.  
"NO!" he screamed as he watched Angel Island, top-first, go smashing into the planetoid. From the  
bank, the echidnas could hear screaming of Mobian and Chao alike, along side the shrieking sound as  
the Master Emerald was disintegrated. With that, Knuckles fainted.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog reclined under a palm tree near the train station in the Mystic Ruins. The sun  
was bright and the air was warm, gently stirred by the occasional cool breeze coming from the  
waterfall. It was the picture of serenity.  
"Jeez," Sonic sighed, "There is absolutely nothing exciting going on today!"  
The past six months had been tapering off into a state of being tediously boring for Sonic. After the  
defeat of Perfect Chaos, Sonic had been the talk of the world. He had been interviewed by every  
news reporter worldwide, and it brought back memories of when he defeated Dr. Robotnik for the first  
time. Sonic had once again been a household name, and the attention he had received was truly the  
perfect drug. But as time wore on, and the funerals for those caught in Perfect Chaos' wake had begun  
to fade into memory, so did Sonic's publicity. People still praised him if they saw him on the streets, but  
things had calmed down. What was worse, what Sonic usually did for fun had become repetitive too.  
Every Zone he could access had been memorized, and every badnik within was destroyed. Dr.  
Robotnik's original Egg Carrier wasn't any fun either. The Sky Deck was now completely under water  
and in ruin. Sonic and Tails had scouted through the entire ship, but there was no sign of the Eggman or  
of any further threats. As for the base in the Mystic Ruins, Sonic had gone through there a dozen times  
at least, and it was clean of all it's badniks too. The rebuilt Silver and Metal Sonics there did give him  
the creeps, but Tails had gone through every available console, and there was simply no way of  
activating them. Another bid for adventure down the tubes.  
Sonic yawned and muttered about the ways things were again until something caught his eye. Storm  
clouds were gathering on the horizon, and they didn't seem normal. Sonic quickly dashed to the roof of  
the train station and looked out to the sea. Sure enough, something very odd was going on in the  
distance, and it looked pretty bad.  
"Bingo," Sonic said with a smirk, then sat on the roof and frowned. He had no way to get across  
the ocean to where the potential action lied...unless...  
In a blur of blue, Sonic bounded his way to Tails' house, where he rapped on the door rapidly and  
impatiently. When no answer came, he let himself in and followed the noises of construction. He  
reached the hangar in which the Tornado 2, which was a rather sorry sight, was seemingly being  
reconstructed. Tails stood on a ladder, heat mask down, seemingly welding a piece on.  
"Hey Tails!" Sonic shouted over the din. The small fox looked over, then turned off his torch. He  
lifted his mask and smiled at his idol.  
"Hey Sonic, what's up?" he asked.  
"That depends. What are you doing to the Tornado?"  
"Oh, this," Tails said with a smile, hefting the torch. "I'm scrapping her."  
"You're what?!"  
"The Tornado 2 is toast, Sonic. It'll make excellent scraps for the Tornado 3 tho'!"  
"Tails," Sonic whined, "I need that thing!"  
"When?"  
"Like, now!"  
"Um, okay. I could probably make it able to fly again, but not much..."  
"Great!"  
"There's a problem tho'."  
"Now what?!"  
"The power supply. The Chaos Emeralds have disappeared to new Zones. There's no way you  
could find one soon enough to fly out today."   
"What about rings?"  
"What about them?"  
"Could you modify the T-2 to take the magic rings?"  
"Well...probably...but that would make this bucket of bolts even more unstable than it already will  
be. I'd need two hundred at least to get you anywhere worth going."  
"Not a problem," Sonic said with a grin. "I'll get 'em for you right now! So hurry up, I wanna leave  
ASAP!"  
With that, Sonic blasted out of the house and into the Windy Valley Zone. Tails sighed, lowered his  
mask again, and began to re-weld the Tornado 2 together.  
  
*****  
  
Amy Rose wasn't really sure where she was or what had happened to her. As the images swam  
through her mind, she let out a groan and decided to start as far back as she could and work her way to  
the present. The clearest point had been months ago when she watched that hunk of a hedgehog,  
Sonic, do battle with the fearsome Perfect Chaos. In the aftermath, she, along with the aid of Birdie  
and his family, helped the rescue efforts in the ground zero. If there was one thing Dr. Robotnik had  
managed to do successfully during his most recent campaign of terror, it was the destruction of Station  
Square. Most of its survivors made an exodus to the sister city of Silicon Central. While not as  
commercial as Station Square was, Silicon Central was really beginning to grow, and the thousands of  
people made the expansion and explosion.  
Even when peace had returned, Amy had helped in the recovery. Her logic was simple: for the  
people to get back on their feet, they needed a source of income, right? And the only way to get that  
was to get a job, right? And the only way to earn money through your job was to make the product  
sell, right? So what better way of helping others than by shopping like crazy? Amy had become a local  
heroine between the shops and stores she frequented, a legend among those she had yet to come  
across. Thus she had been shopping that day, as usual, when suddenly something strange had  
happened to her. It was if the inside of her entire psyche had exploded. She had heard whistles and  
bells, seen bright flashes of light, and then suddenly collapsed, the entire world going in slow motion  
while she was rocketing through time.  
The last thing she could decipher was a soothing voice and a pair of strong hands. She had felt  
herself lifted into the air, and then totally blanked out. Now she found herself in an apartment of some  
kind, but not her own. Whoever lived here had a true appreciation for the arts, as well a fantastic sense  
of order and fashion. She pulled the blanket she had found over her and pulled it around her shoulders  
as she sat up to take in more of the view. There were the sounds of something being poured to her  
right, and in walked a Human carrying a mug of hot tea.  
"At last, the mysterious Mobian awakens," he said with a gentle smile.  
"Um, hello," Amy said, still unsettled by the sudden race of events.  
"How are you feeling?" the man asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch Amy sat on.  
"Okay, I guess, just a little disoriented," she said.  
"My name is Jonathan Potter," he said, offering the mug. "I saw you just suddenly collapse on the  
sidewalk and decided to help. I didn't know if the local emergency rooms were practiced in caring for  
Mobian patients..."   
Amy smiled and took the tea. "Human and Mobian physiology are very similar, as I've heard." She  
took a drink and sighed, smiling. It was perfect. "Thank you very much Mr. Potter. It was very kind  
of you."  
"I'm sorry I didn't get your parcels," he said, embarrassed. "I was kind of flustered, worrying about  
you, and didn't think to bring them along. Someone's probably taken them by now."  
Amy waved the notion off. "I didn't really need any of those things anyway."  
Jonathan smiled. "So, if I may be so bold, what happened to you back there?"  
Amy frowned. "I'm not sure really."  
A light dawned in his eyes. "Say, aren't you Amy Rose? Sonic's girlfriend?"  
"Well, I am Amy Rose," she said, blushing, "But I'm not with Sonic."   
"Oh, sorry about that."  
"Not a problem."  
After a pause, he asked: "How did you two meet up? I was just getting out of senior high school  
when Dr. Robotnik attacked for the first time, and I've been fascinated by Sonic ever since. I mean, he  
saved all those people single handedly, I just...how did you two meet?"  
Amy smiled, becoming drugged by her own nostalgia. "Sonic always seems to make friends by  
saving the day. Dr. Robotnik had attacked my home world, and Sonic came and saved the day. I  
came with him back to Earth and just started my life here."  
"Your home world? You mean you're not an Earthling?"  
"Oh no, I am, I just came from Little Planet."  
"You've lost me."  
Amy smiled, "Little Planet was kinda like a small moon. Every month, over Never Lake, it would  
slip out of its special place in the time stream and just hang there for a day. Then, after twenty-four  
hours, it would rise into the sky again and disappear for another month."  
"Wow!" Jonathan exclaimed, "How can a planet do that?!"  
"On Little Planet, there were seven Time Stones, kinda like the Chaos Emeralds. They kept Little  
Planet stable in and out of the time stream."  
"And that's why Dr. Robotnik attacked you, isn't it? He wanted the Time Stones."  
"That's right," Amy said, taking another drink. "To keep Little Planet from disappearing, he had it  
tethered to a mountain by a gigantic chain. Since both he and Sonic were grabbing Time Stones, Little  
Planet's delicate temporal balance got totally screwed. I followed Sonic to Earth because, not only did  
I have a major crush on him, but Little Planet was a wasteland."  
"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you visit when it comes back though?"  
"No, Little Planet hasn't come back in the past few years. The Time Stones were disrupted, so it  
doesn't come out on regular intervals any more."  
"But it stands to reason that it would reappear at some point, right?" Jonathan asked Amy's eye  
grew wide and her jaw slackened as she realized what they had just said. In one fluid movement she  
dropped the mug and raced out the door, murmuring a slight "Thank you." Jonathan just blinked,  
confused.  
  
*****  
  
In the darkened Mystic Ruin Egg Carrier Base, a bulbous green robot walked in. It looked at a  
console for a moment, resulting in a great deal of beeping and lighted activity. Two pairs of eyes lit up  
simultaneously. One pair was a soulless bright orange. The other was an evil crimson. The glass  
chambers hummed open, and the three left the base.  
  
*****  
  
"Sonic, are you sure you don't want to charter a boat or something?" Tails asked as he ran over the  
last of the pre-flight routine.   
"Quit yappin' and start flappin'!" Sonic replied.  
"What?"  
"You don't get it? Wings? Flapping?"   
"Oh, sure."  
Sonic muttered something condescending.  
"Okay, I think the Tornado 2 will make it to...where are we going?"  
"Never Lake, I think."  
"You think? Sonic, if we get lost over the ocean and this thing breaks up..."  
"Yeah-yeah-yeah, let's just get going, okay? Trust me."  
It was Tails' turn to say some choice words under his breath.  
The hangar bay doors of Tails' house hummed open as the cliff face transformed itself into a runway.   
With some complacent noised, the Tornado 2 forced its way down the runway and managed to take to  
the air. Tails looked down at the new meter he had hastily installed. It told him there were 297 magic  
rings left in the fulsome lodge.  
"If," Tails thought to himself, "I even programed it right."  
As the dynamic duo flew toward the tremulous sky, they did not notice the three shapes making  
their way to the fallen Egg Carrier.  
  
*****  
  
Amy virtually ran from the Mystic Ruin train station just as the Tornado 2 launched from the Tails'  
house. Amy looked mournfully as the plane flew off.  
"Oh no!" she cried. "Now how am I going to get there?" She began to pace in the dusty earth for a  
moment, trying to think of way to get to Never Lake. The train system didn't run to it, and she had  
heard on the radio while on the train that officials had banned all flights and cruises to the area due to  
unexplained phenomena. She soon thought of the raft she had used to get to the Egg Carrier when  
helping Birdie find his parents, but when she reached the platform under the station, she only found a  
number of logs. Something had torn the rough raft apart.  
Becoming frustrated, Amy paced on the wooden platform, wracking her brains for someone who  
could help. Then she remembered the large fellow she had seen when Perfect Chaos had attacked.   
She bolted up the ladder and launched herself in one of the mine carts to one of the areas in the Mystic  
Ruins. The sight was breathtaking each time she saw it with the ancient temple framed against the sky.   
And ever since the Egg Carrier Base had shut down, the spotlights were no longer there to distract her  
from the natural beauty. But enough of this, she had to find that large purple fellow.  
She searched through the balmy jungle, following the river as best she could, remembering that, in  
the celebration over Perfect Chaos' defeat, he had told her he lived along the river. While many in the  
company at the time had viewed the mountain of a Mobian as stupid, Amy saw that he was truly just a  
simple person, living on whatever life gave him and not wanting more. Finally, she came to the rough  
hut where she saw a rather comical sight. Big the Cat was playing checkers with Froggy, and Big  
wasn't winning. The amphibian whipped out his tongue, snagged one of the checkers, then spit it out on  
the other side of one of Big's pieces. With another attack of the tongue, Froggy took the piece he had  
just jumped. Big sighed.  
"You win again good buddy," he said, a goofy grin crossing his face.  
Froggy croaked something.  
"Aw, well, sure I taught you the game, you just picked up on it real good."  
Amy giggled, drawing the attention of the two.  
"Oh, hello!" Big said, happy to see a visitor.  
"Hello there," Amy replied. "Do you remember me?"  
"Yes! You're that nice hedgehog girl! Froggy liked you a lot."  
The amphibian hopped in agreement.  
Amy smiled, "I know this is kinda sudden, but I really need your help."  
"Oh?" Big asked, generally concerned.  
"I need to get to Never Lake, but I have no way of crossing the ocean. Do you have a boat or  
something I could borrow?"  
Big sat for a moment, his eyes glazing over. Amy was beginning to become alarmed when he  
looked up. "Never Lake? With the planet?"  
"Yes! You know about it?"  
"Sure," Big said. He swivelled in his chair and pointed past where the Egg Carrier Base was  
located. "It's down the river. Kinda far, but the river moves very fast."  
"Really?" Amy asked, completely surprised. "I didn't know it was even connected to the main  
land!"  
Big nodded quietly. "Froggy and I go there to fish sometimes. You want me to take you there?"  
"Yes, please!"  
"Okay. I'll catch some fish in case we get hungry. It is kinda far."  
"But, I need to get there immediately!"  
"Oh," Big said, his eyes glazing again. Froggy hopped and croaked at Big, to which the latter  
snapped upright and smiled. "Yeah! That's a great idea Froggy!"  
"What is?" Amy asked.  
"We'll go down the river! It's so fast! And if I push, we'll go even faster! Me and Froggy know all  
the short cuts!"  
"Fantastic!" Amy cried, jumping for joy.  
"Okay, follow me," Big said. He handed Amy his fishing line and then picked up his bed. Now  
completely confused, Amy merely followed. After a short hike, the three reached a waterfall that fell  
beneath the Egg Carrier Base. Without any visible effort, Big lifted Amy and Froggy onto the inverted  
bed.  
Amy's eyes bugged when she saw what was about to happen. "Oh no! Wait! Isn't there any  
other..."  
"Hold on!" Big called. With a mighty heave, the flat wooden bed went flying along the waterfall.   
Big pounced onto it as it fell, and the trio screamed all the way down. Seconds later, they flew from the  
foam at the base of the waterfall and began shooting down the river.   
"That was fun!" Big whooped.  
"My heart is in my throat," Amy wheezed.  
Froggy croaked something that sounded more along the lines of what Amy had said.  
  
*****  
  
"Holy smokes," Tails whispered as the neared Never Lake.  
"That can't be Little Planet," Sonic said in awe. The sky portal that Little Planet had come from  
remained open, spewing peels of thunder and forks of pulsing lightening. The air was heavy, and the  
sky surrounding the area was black as a starless night. The Tornado 2 bucked in the winds, nearly  
throwing Sonic off.  
"Hey Tails," he called, "Land us somewhere in the jungle, the wind is going to tear us apart!"  
"I've been trying to alter course!" Tails called back, fighting with the controls, "But we're caught in  
Little Planet's gravity! We are going to get torn apart!"  
"Well, can't you do something?!"  
"There is one thing, but if it works, it may kill us."  
"We're dead either way! Do it!"  
Tails punched a button on the control panel. A long mechanical arm came from the back of the  
Tornado 2, but not nearly as smoothly as it had when the two were attacking the Egg Carrier. It  
grabbed Sonic by the waist and lifted him as the Tornado 2 changed from the biplane into a sleek jet.   
Tails pulled hard on the stick, turning the plane around. He punched another button and the rocket  
engine kicked in. The Tornado 2 bucked and blasted away from Little Planet. Sonic and the arm,  
however, flew off the back and hurtled toward the brown hazy skies.  
"Sonic!" Tails called, but there was no turning back. Little Planet was spinning at a dizzying pace  
now, and the remains of Dr. Robotnik's chain flew at the Tornado 2. By sheer luck, the chain did not  
hit and kill Tails. Instead, it tore off the two right wings of the plane, sending Tails spiraling toward the  
ground. At the last second, Tails jumped from the plane and flew to a sheltered area on the banks of  
Never Lake. The Tornado 2 hit the ground and went up in a fireball, the last magic ring giving out just  
before the chain struck. Tails cursed his luck and then squeaked. He ducked back behind his rock. In  
the distance, he had seen Knuckles, and the explosion on the Tornado 2 was bringing him toward Tails.  
  
*****  
  
"If I get out of this alive," Sonic snarled, "I'm going to kill Tails." The debris in the higher altitudes of  
Little Planet were much thicker than those on the ground. Using each chunk of rock or building as a  
launch-pad, Sonic leapt his way toward the ground. His movements were greatly hindered, however,  
by the long mechanical arm that still had a death grip on him. At long last, Sonic managed to hitch a  
ride on a piece that was too big to stay airborne and rode it until it hit the ground.  
Sonic coughed and whipped the dirt from his eyes as best he could, but the atmosphere was  
atrocious. With a loud howling sound, Sonic felt Little Planet slow in its rotation, then stop. The  
sediments in the air fell like a heavy mist, and chunks of the former cities began to fall from the sky.   
Sonic cursed as he dodged the deadly hail, only to hear and feel Little Planet start to move again.   
When he landed, it was rotating east to west. Now, it seemed to have decided to go south to north.  
"Definitely going to kill Tails," he growled. As Little Planet sped up, some of the incoming debris  
stopped, then were flung back into the brown sky. Gagging, Sonic fought for every breath as he ran  
with the turning of the planet. Another howling noise and the planet slowed. Sonic snorted, then  
gasped. One of the few cities that was still standing became the next to fall. The planet began rotating  
north to south, and the entire city as rubble began hurtling at Sonic. The hedgehog tried to back up and  
run away, but the mechanical arm had managed to burry itself in the ground. Sonic was stuck, not even  
able to go into a protective spin.  
"Definitely going to kill Tails!"  
  
*****  
  
Amy held onto a leg of the bed as it rocketed down the river. Big had inflated his belt and was  
behind, pushing it faster than ever. Amy couldn't understand how the water could be moving that fast  
and not be completely white rapids, but then again, a lot of weirder stuff had happened on Earth.   
"There it is!" Big called, pointing briefly at the sky.  
Amy looked up and barely caught a glimpse of her former home. "Little Planet," she said.  
"No, 'nother waterfall!" Big called happily.  
"What?!" Amy shouted, just before the trio dropped again. As they fell, Amy saw the water quickly  
flowed into an underground cavern.  
"Better hold your breath," Big warned, "It takes a minute to surface."  
"Great," Amy whined. She hugged herself, chilled by fear, and held her breath. The sudden blast of  
cold water and the impact nearly made her lose it. She felt Big hold her and Froggy to the bed as it  
rocketed through the dark passage. There was a sudden sensation of freedom in the water around her,  
the feeling she was rising, and then she opened her eyes, and lungs, to the air above Never Lake.  
"We're...we're..." she stammered.  
"Yep," Big said happily. "Wasn't that fun?"  
Amy smiled half-heartily, "In a sense, I guess."   
Froggy croaked and hopped, looking skyward.  
"What is it lil' buddy?" Big asked.  
Amy followed the frog's line of sight and gasped. "It's Sonic! Look!"  
Little Planet had rotated so that Sonic was now in the 'south pole' while the rest of the planetoid  
rotated horizontally. Sonic was being swung mercilessly, and would have been flung around to his  
death if not for the arm that was still holding him in place.  
"Maybe I won't kill Tails," Sonic thought.  
"Quick, we've got to get him down!" Amy shouted.  
"I'll get him," Big said determinedly. "He helped save Froggy! I will help save him now!"   
Narrowing his always attentive eyes, Big reared back and cast his line into the sky. Little Planet's  
gravity swallowed the line ravenously, delivering the lure just above Sonic's head. Sonic squinted  
through his blurry vision at the curios object. Then, through the clouds, he saw the faint shapes of Amy  
and Big. He grinned.  
"Well I'll be," he chuckled. He reached out, grabbed the line, and tugged on it.  
"I got him!" Big shouted happily, and began to reel.  
Sonic felt himself being lifted away...until the arm would not let him go any further. As the sense of  
panic began to sink in, he went to red alert as he heard Little Planet howl; it was about to change  
course.  
"Tails is SO dead!" he roared to the sky, and tried to free himself by pulling on the line hand-over-  
hand.  
"What's wrong?" Amy asked as Big began to grunt.  
"He's caught, I think."  
Little Planet stopped. A particular piece of debris smashed into the ground next to Sonic, freeing  
him. Sonic immediately began shooting skyward which, awkwardly enough, was down. Big began to  
reel furiously, then stopped, a harrowing look of sorrow washing over his face.  
"What? What?!" Amy pleaded, pulling on his belt.  
"All those things in the air over the planet...they broke the line," he said mournfully.  
Sonic flew closer to the debris as Little Planet began to spin again. His face showed the perfect  
expression of shock when he realized the line had snapped. Little Planet's gravity began to claim him  
again.  
"Oh no, not again," Sonic snarled. Free from the ground, and holding out his Crystal Ring,  
Sonic went into a spin until his body glowed with power. "Ready....GO!" he called. In a blue flash,  
Sonic blasted through the sky, the debris, the atmosphere, and splashed down into Never Lake. Sonic  
thrashed frantically in the water until he felt something pull on the arm. Big lifted Sonic from the water  
and smiled.  
"You're okay!" the giant feline sang.  
"Yeah," Sonic coughed, "Thanks a lot man."  
"Sonic!" Amy cried, putting the blue hedgehog in a mad embrace which he lightly returned.  
"Heya Amy," he said. "Now then, can we get to shore now?"  
Froggy frantically croaked and jumped.  
"What is it?" the Mobians asked in unison.  
Froggy pointed roughly at the water behind them. The chain was being swung through the water,  
tearing up the ground beneath it and smashing into the water again at a deadly rate.  
"Quick!" Amy shouted, "Cast another line out to shore! Maybe it'll latch onto something!"  
Wordlessly, Big applied another lure, not mentioning that the line was much shorter now. With a  
deftness that was to be admired, he cast his line toward the closest shore.  
  
*****  
  
"Alright kid, you can come out. I'm not going to hurt you," Knuckles snorted.  
"You promise?" Tails whimpered.  
"Look, if you still fight was good as you did against Chaos 4, then you have nothing to worry about  
from me."  
Tails came out at last and looked up at the Guardian sheepishly. "So, uh, what brings you down  
here?"  
Knuckles' face darkened. He then pointed to the odd mountain range sticking out from Little  
Planet's side. "That was once Angel Island," he said, the pain in his voice unable to be hidden by his  
gruff exterior.  
"Oh no...," Tails gasped, "I'm so sorry..."  
A fishing lure landed between their feet.  
"What the...?" Knuckles began.  
Tails looked out into Never Lake, where he saw the trio of Mobians (and Froggy). He also saw the  
coming danger of the chain.  
"Quick! Pull them in!" Tails shouted as he began frantically pulling in the line. Knuckles looked out  
into Never Lake, gathered what was going on, and began helping Tails.  
"They saw us! They're pulling us in!" Big cried happily. He handed the fishing rod off to Sonic and  
jumped into the water behind the bed.  
"What are you doing?!" Amy exclaimed.  
"Pushing us to go faster," Big replied. "Don't let go of that line!"  
"Not a problem," Sonic said, reeling them in. The chain continued to crash down behind them,  
faster than they could possibly travel. In one horrendous cracking noise, the bed was reduced to  
splinters. Tails and Knuckles increased the pace, only to pull in Big's rod.  
"Now I have failed them too," Knuckles mourned.  
"They are not dead yet," Tikal said. Knuckles and Tails looked at her questioningly, wondering  
where she had just come from, but never got a chance to ask. In a brilliant flash of light, she turned into  
the pink sprite and whizzed to the chain.   
Sonic and the others desperately clung to the chain as it swung about madly.   
"Hold on!" Sonic called out as the chain began shrieking down toward Never Lake. The group was  
suddenly dazzled by a flash of bright light. When it faded, they found Tikal clinging to the chain with  
them.  
"Link hands or hold onto each other!" she commanded. They all complied, Sonic grabbing Tikal's  
hand. Another flash of light, and a single sprite flew from the chain as it arched through the water. The  
spark hovered near Knuckles and Tails and, with yet another flash of light, revealed the five, safe and  
sound.  
"Nice belt Sonic," Knuckles snorted.  
"What? Oh," Sonic snarled, glaring at Tails and the mechanical arm.  
"Everyone, quickly!" Tikal announced. "Knuckles has dug a protective trench! The chain will  
quickly stop hitting water and start hitting us if we do not take refuge! Hurry!"   
The company all clambered into the ditch and, with some help from Big, left the mechanical arm out  
on the shore of the lake.  
"Well, at least we're all alive," Amy said with a small smile.  
"Not for long," an ominously familiar voice cackled. With a hiss, green gas poured on the Mobians,  
knocking them all unconscious.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic was the first to regain his senses. From the sound, he guessed Little Planet was getting  
quickly more violent. But at the moment, Little Planet was the least of his worries. Directly across  
from him, standing directly over Amy and not looking at anything in particular, was Silver Sonic.   
Sonic's first instinct was to leap up and attack it while it was off guard, but the ordeal on Little Planet  
and left him stiff, and the gas made him light-headed. Patiently, Sonic waited for the others to awaken.   
Knuckles was next, and with slight hand gestures, Sonic alerted his friendly nemesis to the predicament.   
Tails, Tikal and Big all awoke soon thereafter, and everyone waited patiently for Amy to wake.  
When she did, Sonic waved at her slightly and got caught her eye. With light lip movements, he  
mouthed the word "silver" while pointing at himself.   
"Where?" Amy mouthed back.  
Sonic inconspicuously pointed above her. Her face went pale.   
"Do something," he mouthed.  
"Do what?!" she silently replied.  
Sonic rolled his eyes and did a hammer motion with his wrist.  
Amy nodded and slowly removed the tiny capsule that she kept in her glove. With a flick of the  
wrist, it turned into her Long Hammer, and she smashed the ground above her head. Silver Sonic came  
crashing down, and the Mobians scrambled out. With a whirring noise, Silver Sonic stood, but did not  
immediately attack. Instead, Dr. Robotnik's mad cackling came through an unseen speaker.  
"Well now Sonic, it looks like you've bitten off a little more than you could chew this time," the mad  
scientist cackled.  
"What's your game this time Eggman?" Sonic taunted. Things may have been bleak, but he lived to  
for these battles.  
"Oh, this time I have you beat with a head start," Dr. Robotnik replied through Silver Sonic.   
"Already, my advanced assassin droid, E-106 Iota, is on Little Planet, gathering the shards of whatever  
may be left of the Master Emerald. On the flip side, Metal Sonic is up there now, gathering the Time  
Stones. Now, I will not only have the unlimited energy from the Master Emerald, but I shall control all  
of time as well! I will be immortal! I will be completely omnipotent! I shall rule this and every other  
world, FOREVER!"  
Knuckles snorted, an amused look crossing his face.  
"What could possibly be funny right now?" Tails yipped.  
Knuckles chuckled, "It seems that the Eggman just crack."  
Sonic laughed out loud.  
Silver Sonic immediately turned and pointed at Knuckles. "You will pay for that remark and pay  
dearly!" Dr. Robotnik's voice screamed.  
"Bring it on tubby!" Knuckles growled.  
"We don't have time for this!" Tikal said. "We need to stop Dr. Robotnik's forces from obtaining  
the precious stones!"  
Silver Sonic rocketed from the ditch and attacked viciously at anyone who was in the way. It  
zeroed in on Amy Rose and delivered a fantastic punch, only for it to be caught and held by Big.  
"You're not gonna hurt my friends," Big said steadily. With a grunt, the titanic cat lifted Silver Sonic  
and threw him out into the ocean. For the first time, everyone noticed the egg-shaped pod sitting out in  
the waves. A speaker raised itself from the pillar.  
"Nice try, but that won't be enough to stop my Silver Sonic!" Dr. Robotnik's voice roared. From  
the foamy water, the Mobians gasped as the giant badnik marched its way back onto land.  
"Tikal!" Knuckles commanded, "Take the others to Little Planet and stop those other robots! Me  
and Big will hold off this guy!"  
"Very well," Tikal said with a nod. Amy, Tails and Sonic all linked hands. With a flash of white light,  
they were reduced to the single spark and we borne to Little Planet. Knuckles and Big stared at Silver  
Sonic. The badnik crouched and fired its rockets, and charged them, barely missing the duo.  
"This may be harder than I thought," Knuckles snorted.  
"Maybe," Big agreed.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic and Tails raced along the barren landscape that was Little Planet. Anything and everything  
that had once been on Little Planet was now either in the air or stacked onto the remains of Angel  
Island. Amy and Tikal had gone to find E-106 Iota. Tikal's reasoning was that if Amy had managed to  
talk a soul into E-102 Gamma, she might be able to do it again. What Tikal didn't tell them was that  
she hoped their mutual ability to get along with all natural forces would allow them to calm Chaos,  
should they run into it. Sonic and Tails went to search for Metal Sonic and to gather any Time Stones  
they could. Amy had said that with Little Planet falling apart as it was, the boundaries it had with the  
special Zones might have been weakened.  
"Hey! I just realized something!" Sonic said.  
"What's that?"  
"I can breath here again!"  
"Yeah, the air is pretty decent. Why? What's your point?"  
"When I landed here the first time, it was all I could do to draw a breath! Now the air seems almost  
thin!"  
"Maybe Little Planet's screwy gravity has cleaned the air with a kind of centrifugal force," Tails  
mused.  
"An interest hypothesis," a synthesized voice said.   
Sonic and Tails skidded to a halt. There, just behind them and hovering a few feet from the ground  
was Metal Sonic.  
"How long have you been following us?" Sonic growled.  
"A few minutes. However, I should not terry any longer. My master must have these Time Stones,"  
Metal Sonic synthed, knocking on its torso.  
"You just sealed your death warrant," Sonic said, a sly grin crossing his face.  
"We shall see," Metal Sonic replied.  
  
*****  
  
Silver Sonic returned from the ocean waters again, this time with more of a gimp and slower than  
before.  
"Aw man, stay down!" Knuckles snarled.  
"What's the matter echidna?" Dr. Robotnik's voice taunted. "Getting worn down?"  
"My turn," Big said, his breath coming heavily to him now. In a few swift moves, Silver Sonic was  
made airborne again. And a few minutes later, it was back to fight.  
"You're turn," Big wheezed.  
"Great," Knuckles snorted.  
  
*****  
  
"Look here," Tikal said, lifting a green piece of metal. It had the markings of "E-106."  
"Something tore the robot apart," Amy whispered, not because she wanted to be quiet, but out of  
fear.  
"Indeed...but I don't see Chaos anywhere...it must have been some of the debris," Tikal concluded.  
"And I don't see anything left of the Master Emerald," Amy sighed.   
"Then take my hand," Tikal said. "The boys may need out help." In a brilliant flash of light, the two  
flew away as a pink spark. They never paid attention to the grinding sound from within Angel Island.   
Chaos had found the perfect poetic justice. The Master Emerald, the thing had always held it in check,  
was now the source of power it was using to become Perfect Chaos again. It held no direct malice to  
anyone or anything. All it's simple mind knew was that its Chao were dead, all of them, crushed to a  
hideous death. Now, to ensure that death would never come again to the Chao, Perfect Chaos had to  
purge the world of life so that it's children could live in peace once more. Nothing personal.  
  
*****  
  
Dr. Robotnik scowled from his cockpit. On the main land, Silver Sonic was slowly getting thrashed.   
On Little Planet, Metal Sonic was playing "tag" with Sonic and Tails. And on Angel Island, all  
communication with the short-lived Iota had died. It was obvious that another perfect plan was about  
to go bad. That was, if plan B failed. With a dry chuckle, Dr. Robotnik pressed a series of buttons.   
Deep beneath his pod, his anchor began to gather hydroelectric power. From the back of his pod  
came a satellite dish-like module, armed at the tip with a few dozen magic rings. As power from the  
underwater generators gatherers, Dr. Robotnik began to laugh. The higher the power, the more intense  
his laughter became until finally, when at peek energy, and having truly gone mad, Dr. Robotnik fired an  
ultra-dense beam of energy that smashed straight through Little Planet. Still giggling, Dr. Robotnik  
waited patiently for the batteries to recharge.  
  
*****  
  
Perfect Chaos never knew what hit it. By destiny alone could have Dr. Robotnik's shot hit so true.   
The beam forced the ancient God of Destruction out of Little Planet and out into the stratosphere. With  
a final, exhilarating explosion, Perfect Chaos was reduced to minute drops, scattering for millions of  
miles. While a definite blow to the beast, it was undaunted. Slowly, the water began to force itself  
back together. It would take countless years, depending on the environment, for Perfect Chaos to  
become whole once more. But once it had, the world would not survive.  
  
*****  
  
"Your turn," Knuckles panted.  
"I'll take over for it now. You go help Sonic," Big said, gasping. Silver Sonic began to drag itself  
back on shore.  
"Are you kidding? We're about to whip this guy."  
"I know, but Sonic helped save my friend Froggy, and I want to make sure he gets his job done."  
Big said, stepping closer to the coming badnik.  
"I really don't see what you guys do in him."  
"Please go help him anyway."  
Knuckles looked at Big for a moment, then began running for Little Planet. In a single bound, he  
fanned out his dreads and flew to the planetoid. Little Planet was now bobbing up and down, left and  
right, threatening to fly off and into the ocean or main land somewhere. And at the point where Perfect  
Chaos had been forcibly ejected, the ground cracked and heaved, giving the base of the giant chain  
more leeway. It was only a matter of time before it went flying off.  
  
*****  
  
  
"Hold still!" Tails shouted as he used the power of his Rhythm Badge to brutally attack Metal Sonic,  
the latter buzzing away at the last second.  
"That would be counterproductive on my part," the badnik synthed.  
"Sonic!" Amy called as she and Tikal came running up.  
"Amy! Did you find anything of the Master Emerald?" Sonic asked, completely forgetting Metal  
Sonic. Tails landed with the group and Metal Sonic merely hovered.  
"Not even a fine dust," Amy reported. "How about you? How's your progress with the Time  
Stones?"  
"He's got them all!" Tails said, pointing at Metal Sonic.  
"And I'm about to split him wide open," Sonic said confidently.  
"Don't swing at the pinata yet!" Knuckles called, landing next to Sonic.  
"I don't recall asking for your help," Sonic sneered.  
"You didn't. I'm doing that Big fella a favor. Now shut up and help me dismantle this cheesy piece  
of hardware."  
"Any suggestions on how?"  
"Do your special attacks!" Tikal called to them. "Use the Golden Gloves and the Ancient Light to  
defeat him!"  
"I like her," Sonic said, grinning.  
"I know what you mean," Knuckles agreed. Together, they looked viciously confident at Metal  
Sonic, who only hovered, trying to compute the result of what Tikal had suggested. Sonic went into a  
Speed Dash, gathering power with his Crystal Ring. Knuckles flexed, causing waves of red energy to  
emanate from his Golden Gloves. In a few slight seconds, Sonic was covered in a blazing blue aura,  
and Knuckles was enveloped in a pulsing red cloud of energy.  
"Ready?" Sonic asked.  
"GO!" Knuckles called. In a flash of blue and red, the two heros blasted to Metal Sonic, swirled  
around it in a dizzying display of light, then tore it apart. The seven Time Stones glittered to the ground,  
and the two warriors landed in unison, not saying anything, but giving each other a look of mutual  
respect. That's when they heard the chain break. That's when Dr. Robotnik fired for the last time.  
  
*****  
  
Big threw Silver Sonic to the ground again with a grunt. The badnik trembled for a moment, the  
swung a fist hard into the cat's gut. Big staggered back, taking Froggy up as the little amphibian jumped  
into his arms. In the distance, Dr. Robotnik fired his laser again. At that exact moment, the chain  
broke free of the madly spinning Little Planet with tragic events. Spinning like a rotor blade from hell, it  
cut down Big, Silver Sonic, and finally Dr. Robotnik in a fantastic explosion. Dazed, Froggy staggered  
over to the top half of Big, nudged it gently with its nose, then curled up and cried.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic saw the beam coming and knew of only one person who could save them now. That's why  
he grabbed Amy and the Time Stones, never looking back. The second beam was of a much wider  
spray than the first, so it didn't punch a hole through Little Planet. What it did do was end the lives of  
Knuckles, Tails and Tikal. As Sonic raced across the barren land, Little Planet finally gave up the good  
fight and began to split apart. Jumping from spire to spire of rock, violently jutting from the ground,  
Sonic kept Amy alive. Finally, his foot slipped, and with parting words of "Save us Amy!", he fell into  
the darkness bellow.  
Terrified, Amy looked at the Time Stones. Things were almost looking good until this al happened.   
Now she had the chance to fix things. But how far? Should she only restore things to the way they  
were before Little Planet reappeared? That would only restart the terror. Did she dare go far back  
enough to erase Dr. Robotnik from the time line? Of course not! History was already laid out. To  
alter that much could make things worse. A large piece of Little Planet went flying into the air and  
smashed Amy's legs, almost causing her to blackout from pain. Reaching forward, desperate, she  
made her plea:  
"Time Stones! Hear me. I beg you! Please reset the time to before Little Planet reappeared today!   
And please change it so Little Planet was simply gone for those years, and would forever continue to  
exist as it had before Dr. Robotnik messed everything up! Please! Please!"  
The stones let off a few bursts of light, then let off a blinding flash.  
  
*****  
  
Amy Rose got up from the sidewalk, dusting herself off.  
"I do beg you pardon," a man said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."  
"That's alright. I wasn't either."  
"Here, let me help your things," Jonathan said.  
"Why thank you," Amy said with a smile.  
  
*****  
  
"...And she'll have complete gyro-flight capabilities..." Tails said excitably.  
"Alright! Alright already! You've sold me!" Sonic laughed, looking over Tails' shoulder at the  
blueprints for the Tornado 3. "You just make sure you do it gently."  
"Sure thing," Tails said with a grin. "Hey, where are you going?"  
"I'm bored, I think I'll go race the train to Silicon Central and back," Sonic said.  
"Well, be careful," Tails called after him.  
"Careful?" Sonic said to himself as he headed for the train station. "Why take the fun out of it?"  
  
*****  
  
"Ha!" Big said triumphantly. "I won this time!"  
Froggy croaked something in reply.  
"Oh yeah. Well, all winning streaks have got to end at some point good buddy."  
  
*****  
  
Dr. Robotnik sat in his secret throne deep within the bowels of the Egg Carrier. He had nothing to  
do, nothing to plot or to plan. With a sigh, he got up and began to put the finishing touches to the  
programming of his latest in the E-100 series.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of Angel Island, stretched and yawned, awaking from his nap.   
With a slight grunt, he lifted himself from the Master Emerald and cracked his back. As he started  
down the stairs of the altar, his sleep-induced stupor allowed him to unwittingly step on a Chao that  
happened to be napping in his path. The tiny blue creature shrieked and began bawling a thrashing.   
Knuckles immediately awoke fully and took the Chao in his arms. At the bottom of the altar, a small  
moat had appeared within the past few months. The contents were not water as it would seem, but  
rather Chaos, the God of Destruction and Guardian of the Chao. The 'water' rippled and churned as  
the Chao's cries alerted the ancient beast. Chaos Zero rose from the moat; its long tail swishing behind  
it. It dragged its feet through the moat and began to ascend the stairs, ready to eliminate the cause of  
the Chao's suffering. But when it reached the top, it saw a very content Chao being rocked gently in  
the arms of the Guardian. Knuckles crooned an improvised lullaby, and the startled Chao drifted back  
to sleep. Knuckles sat the infant on a small outcropping next to the stairway and decided to glide the  
rest of the way. Chaos, meanwhile, returned to it's completely liquid state.  
Knuckles did not linger in the air long. What he saw on the horizon made him drop to his feet  
quickly, and gawked in amazement. In the distance, what looked like a small moon rose into the air  
over Never Lake, and simply disappeared. Knuckles scratched the back of his head in puzzlement and  
made a mental note of it.  
"You looked concerned, anything wrong?" Tikal asked.  
"Tikal! Where did you come from?"  
"A mommy and a daddy," she said slyly.  
"Very funny," Knuckles snorted. "In answer to your question, nothing is wrong. Just taking note of  
a potential threat to the island."  
"What? A beautiful day?"  
"You're in a funny mood today."  
Tikal smiled. "I've just learned to appreciate life again. You never know when something might  
drop out of the blue and unpleasantly surprise you."  
  
THE END 


End file.
